Do all fanbases attack their own star players during tough times?

[Sky04]

See Tampa Bay fans's current frustration level with Stamkos.

Well that's cause he's playing bad, not the team. It's the opposite in Tampa, during those rough years the star players were treated very well, Stamkos and MSL never really took any heat from the fanbase.

 

[DaveG]

How about Brind'Amour?

As for the Leafs, no one is safe. Except for Komarov maybe, some fans are even nominating him for captaincy

Even Brindy was getting some criticism in the last year of his career. He started to show signs of slowing down in 08-09 and by 09-10 people wanted him to hang up the skates to save his legacy. Still, would have been nice to see him get to 1200 points since that would really help his HoF chances.

 

[teddy83]

Yes they do, even the Ducks and Finland national team fans turned on Teemu Selanne last season

 

[Vladys Gumption]

I'd say so. Pietrangelo is getting crucified on our board. It's to the point that people want to trade him because he's "not physical enough" and because he's had some struggles this year. As if a 35 game stretch trumps 4 years of utter excellence.

 

[Siddi]

Except for half the board it's never his fault because of previous seasons, it means he never has a bad game or gives up a bad goal.

You forgot to mention the other half that wants to crucify him and call him "washed up", "a sieve" etc as soon as he lets in a semi-softy.

Exaggeration goes both ways.

 

[Cory Trevor]

Bruins fans here in Boston attack our stars when we are playing well. When the team is losing it's similar to the way we treated the British.

Except Bergeron. He can and never will do anything wrong here in Boston, which is the way it should be.

 

[PricePkPatch*]

Well.. I dont remember.much of the 2012-13 season, but i do not remember there being an especially high amount of *****ing at any specific player on the Habd board..

Hell. You could argue Desharnais and Subban are getting ripped more this year than they were when we finished 15th in the East.

 

[Fataldogg]

There are still certain Ranger fans who absolutely rip apart Lundqvist for every goal he lets up, even after winning 7 straight in the Rangers 8 game winning streak. Some people need to hate somebody, and its usually the guys with the biggest paychecks.

Makes the Rangers fans look ridiculous. There was actually one poster who listed every fundamental goaltender skill and said he struggles in each one. Thus, signifying he is not an NHL caliber goaltender. It is non-sense.

 

[The Macho King]

Well that's cause he's playing bad, not the team. It's the opposite in Tampa, during those rough years the star players were treated very well, Stamkos and MSL never really took any heat from the fanbase.

This. Stamkos isn't getting roasted because he's a star player - he's getting roasted because he's a star player who is playing poorly.

 

[The Cheat]

In all fairness nooone would fault Edmonton fans for being whine central 24-7.

Their management is just lucky it's too cold for mass fan protests.

I honestly don't understand how they fill the arena anymore, their promoter is the REAL star of the team if that's the case. And no, that's not sarcasm.

 

[Leafidelity]

While Kessel gets hated on 24/7 (see the weekly trade forum thread), one loss and the entire team needs to be burned to the ground and replaced by draft picks. Entire team.

 

[hototogisu]

Not so much for the Habs. We like to focus our hate on marginal players (see: practically booing Brisebois out of town) which is arguably even worse.

Subban has taken a bit more flak this year after signing the big contract but he's still pretty much the golden boy. Price never really gets criticized but considering how much heat he took at the start of his career, that's pretty fair. Pacioretty gets it the worst I guess (not physical enough/didn't score enough in the playoffs).

But for the most part the pitchforks get turned on the Desharnais', Allens, Brieres, Murrays, Malhotras, etc. of the team instead.

 

[PricePkPatch*]

Not so much for the Habs. We like to focus our hate on marginal players (see: practically booing Brisebois out of town) which is arguably even worse.

Subban has taken a bit more flak this year after signing the big contract but he's still pretty much the golden boy. Price never really gets criticized but considering how much heat he took at the start of his career, that's pretty fair. Pacioretty gets it the worst I guess (not physical enough/didn't score enough in the playoffs).

But for the most part the pitchforks get turned on the Desharnais', Allens, Brieres, Murrays, Malhotras, etc. of the team instead.

I try to remember the Habs board during the Disaster Season. Weren't we hating on the coach and the GM more than any specific player?

Oh, damnit. I forgot we had Gomez. And Kaberle. And Camel Larry.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Yeah, but then you get defensive when someone from another fan base attacks your player.

 

[Lebowski]

Most people are pretty level headed in that regard on the Habs board. But there's a few noted posters that have agendas against Pacioretty and Subban.

Price has been spared for the most part over the last couple of years because he's been pretty much flawless, but I wouldn't be surprised if some closet Halak fans gave him a hard time the minute he has a tough stretch.

 

[Eple]

Suter and Parise get almost no criticism ever, but that's because they hardly ever deserve it.

Koivu on the other hand gets a lot of justified and unjustified critique.

 

[DFC]

Well that's cause he's playing bad, not the team. It's the opposite in Tampa, during those rough years the star players were treated very well, Stamkos and MSL never really took any heat from the fanbase.

Yeah, I misapplied "tough times" to the individual (as in a personal slump) and not the team.

 

[Pitt the Elder]

Guaranteed in Toronto if anything goes remotely wrong it's Kessel/Phaneuf/Reimer/Gardiner/Kadri's fault. Meanwhile guys like Bernier/Bozak/Lupul/Polak are bulletproof. It doesn't make sense. Even Clarkson gets his defenders.

 

[Blueline Bomber]

The only player in my time as a Canes fan that was truly above reproach has been Ron Francis.

Yep. Brindamour was the same way until late in his career when age caught up with him. Then it was free reign.

Staal was the opposite. He was impervious to criticism early in his career, but every year after that has been subject to attacks (mostly by me)

 

[Devil Dancer]

No.

Remember, we had these threads pop up when we missed the playoffs :

"Should we trade Ovechkin ?"
"Should we give the captaincy to someone else ?"

Those people aren't representative of the Caps board as a whole. Every group of a decent size is going to have a few outliers. In general the Caps bunch is very pro-Ovie and Backstrom.

 

[hototogisu]

I try to remember the Habs board during the Disaster Season. Weren't we hating on the coach and the GM more than any specific player?

Oh, damnit. I forgot we had Gomez. And Kaberle. And Camel Larry.

Yeah, that's true too. It's also mostly focused on the GM and the coach (especially the coach).

 

[MoreOrr]

Why not, if the star isn't producing and is being paid plenty.

Better to get pissed with the whole team or organization though. In the end, it is the coaches and management who are responsible for having a good product on the ice.

 

[Xamar*]

Glad we're not the only ones

 

[HunterSThompson]

On their own boards yes. Put that same player in a trade speculation or proposal thread, and he is the greatest thing since the twinkie came back.

 

[SmellOfVictory]

For the Flames it's normally only when it's deserved. More often a support player will be the scapegoat, and normally with good reason (guys like Rene Bourque, Matt Stajan when he first came over, Tyler Bertuzzi, etc.). But the Flames' stars (the few they've had over the past decade that I've been watching) have thankfully been pretty good to the team and fans in terms of play on the ice and consistency - well, Iginla and guys like Cammalleri have been. Kiprusoff actually got an undeserved amount of hero worship while he was here, because while he was the single greatest reason for the '04 cup run, and he had a couple more elite seasons, he also had multiple disastrous seasons that many fans chose to blame the head coach for rather than his own year-to-year inconsistency.

Oh I guess there was Phaneuf, but he was pretty bad in his last couple of seasons with the Flames. And JBo got more flak than he deserved.